The Hot Springs star. (Hot Spings [Hot Springs], Dakota [Dakota Territory, i.e. S.D.]) 1886-189?, 1887-12-09

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AycSha made q Increment so s,ctJt that I
could scarcely fo'io,r 1t.
band-nevcr-nevcrl"
Ayesha made q movement so swift that
lcould scarcely follow it, but 1t seemed to
me that she lightly struck the poor girl
upon the hair With hsr hand. Hooked at
distances head, and then staggered back in
horror; for there upon her hair, right across
her bronze-like ~tresses, We're three finger
marks as tr'litc as sao,c AS for the girl
herself, she had put her hands to her head
and was looking dazed.
Great heavens!"I said, perfectly aghast
1t this dreadful manifestation of inhuman
power; but She did but laugh u little.
"Thou thinkest, poor ignorant fool" she
said to the hewildered woman, "that 1 have
not power to Stay. Stay; there lies a mir
ror," n she pointed to Lco's round shay
ing-glass that had been arranged by Job
with other things upon his portmanteau.
"Give it to this woman, my Holly, aud let
her see that which lies across her hair, and
whether or no 1 have power to slay.'
Ipicked up the glass md held it before
distances eyes. She gazcd, then felt ut her
hair, then gazed again, and then sank upon
the ground with q sort of sob.
"Now wilt thou 80, or must I strike q
second timer" asked Ayesha, in mockcry.
"See; l have set my seal upon thee, SO that
Imay know thee till thy hair is all as
white as it. If l see thy face here again,
be sure too that thy bones shall soon be
winter than my mark upon thy hair"
Utterly awed and broken down, the poor
creature rose, and, marked with that aw-
full mark, crept from the room, sobbing
bitterly.
"Look not so frightened, my Holly" said
Ayesha, when she had gone. 81 tell thee I
deal not in mngic--therc is no such thing.
TITS only a force that thou dost not UNDER
stand. / marked her to strike terror to her
heart, else must 1 have slain her. And
now / will bid my servants bear my Lord
Kallilsrates to q chamber near my own,
that 1 may watch over him, and be ready
to greet him when he wakes; and thither,
too, shalt thou come, my Holly, and the
white man, thy servant But II thing
remember ut thy peril. Naught must thou
say to Kallikrates as to how this woman
went, and as little as may be of me. Now,
Ihave warned thee!" And she slid away
to give her orders, leaving me moro abso-
lutely ~confounded than ever. Indeed, SO
bewildered was l, and racked and torn by
such a succession of various emotions, that
I began to think that I must be going mad.
However, perhaps fortunately, l had but
ffhtle time to reflect, for presently the
mutes arrived to carry the sleeping Leo
and our possessions across the central
cave; SO for awhile all was hustle. Our
new rooms were situated Immediately be
hind what we used to call Ayesha's bou-
DOR, the curtained space where 1 had first
seen her. Where she herself slept I did
not then know, but it was somewhere quite
close.
That night I passed in Leo's room, but
he slept through it like the dead. never
once stirring. Ialso slept fairly well, as,
indeed, I needed to do, but my sleep was
full of dreams of all the horrors and Won
ders / had undergone. Chiefly, however,
was haunted by that frightful piece Of
dtablerie by which Ayesha left her finger.
marks upon her rivals hair. There was
something SO terrible about the swift,
snake-like movement, and the %instantane.
Gus blanching of That threefold line, that
II the results to Ustanc had been much
more tremendous I doubt If they would
have impressed me so deeply. To this day
often dream of that dread scene, and see
the weeping woman, b%ereaved, and marked
like Cain. cast q last look ut her lover, and
creep from the presence of her dreadqueen,
Another dream that troubled mo was
about the huge pyramid of bones. J
dreamed that theyall stood and MARCHED
passed me in thousands and tens Of thols'
ands-in squadrons, companies, and armies
with the sunlight shining through Their
hollow ribs. On they rushed across the
plain to Kor, their imperial home; I saw
the ~drawbridges fall before them, III
heard their bones clank through the brazer
gates. On they went, up the splendid
streets, on past fountains, palaces. ant
temples. such as the eye Of man never saw
But there was no mar to greet them II
the markct-place. and no woina;'s hesl
appeared at the windows; only a bodies
voice went before them, calling, "Eulcn 1
Imperial Kor! Observation-Disclosures
On right through the city, marched thos
cleaning phalanxes. and the rattle Of thei
bony tread went echoing through the ST
Gnu 0lr as Vney pfeSSSu Eslui4y ~. AuS.
passed through the city, and climbed tn
wall, and marched along the great road
way that was made upon 1t. till at lengtl
they once more reached the drawbridgc
Then,as the sun was sinking, they returne'
again toward their sepulciire, and luridl
his light shonc through them, THROWN
gigantic shadows of their bones, tha
stretched away and moved like hugo sp
ders' legs as they wound across the plair
Back they came to the cave, and once MOI
hung themselves In unending files throug
the hole in the huge pyramid Of bones; an
Iawoke. shuddering, to see She, who ha
evidently been standing between my couc
and.Leo's, glide Ike q shadow from IL
room.
After this I slept again, soundly tn
time, till morning, when I awokc mnc
refreshed, and got up. At last tho hor
drew near At which, according to Ayesh
Leo WINS to awake; and with 1t came 81
hezself, as usual, yelled.
''Thou shalt see, Holly" she satd;i 'pre
emily shall he awake in hisright mind, y
1ever having left him.
RaFdly Yero tho words ont ct her Mout